Ressa, Aristegui, Attalah and Caruana Galizia among confirmed speakers at World Press Freedom Conference

The speakers will include:

• Maria Ressa, co-founder and CEO of the independent Philippine journalistic platform Rappler, who is facing up to six years in prison on ‘cyberlibel’ charges. She previously worked as a lead investigative reporter for CNN in Southeast Asia for nearly twenty years. Maria Ressa was included in TIME's Person of the Year 2018 as one of the journalists around the world combating disinformation. She was also a Jury member of the 2018 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize;
• Carmen Aristegui, one of Mexico's leading journalists and opinion leaders and anchor at CNN en Español;
• Lina Attalah, chief editor of the independent online paper Mada Masr, and recently named by TIME as one of the 100 most influential people of 2020;
• Matthew Caruana Galizia, investigative journalist, son of the Maltese journalist Daphne Galizia who was killed by a car bomb in 2017.

Their personal stories, and those of many others, will receive special attention during this WPFC. The Conference will jointly celebrate World Press Freedom Day (3 May) and the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists (2 November).

Registration

The goal of WPFC 2020 is to highlight the importance of freedom of the press in the world. This is all the more necessary in light of recent events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic but also the rise in incidents of violence against journalists covering protests across the world, as reported by UNESCO. Because of the current sanitary crisis, the event’s organisers – UNESCO and the Kingdom of the Netherlands – have decided that this year’s edition will be digital. Thousands of journalists, academics, politicians, students, NGOs, legal experts and other interested parties worldwide will be able to take part in the conference through a special online platform. Registration for WPFC 2020 is now open: online slots are limited so we encourage you to reserve a spot ahead.

Programme

The conference programme consists of an official opening and closing ceremony and 15 sessions over the course of 24 hours, in which pressing issues regarding media freedom will be discussed, such as:

• the impact of COVID-19 on media sustainability;
• new forms of attacks against journalists and the gender dimensions of safety;
• tackling impunity for crimes against journalists;
• promoting diversity in the media;
• and the challenges of regulating online content.

Many sessions will have the format of a TV ‘talk show’, and include interactive and innovative elements.

Award ceremony
The 2020 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize will be presented to the Colombian investigative journalist Jineth Bedoya Lima, known for her relentless investigations on the armed conflict and peace process in her country, despite having been kidnapped twice and enduring unacceptable risks. As we move closer to the opening of the conference, additional names of other renowned participants in the WPFC will be announced.